SXSW drops US military sponsorship after Irish acts withdrew from music festival in protest

Close-up of a banner with the logo for South by Southwest SXSW festival.

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST (SXSW) has confirmed that it will not be sponsored by the US Army for its 2025 music festival after over 80 acts, including some Irish bands, withdrew from performing this year in protest.

The major US festival, which showcases rising talent in music, film and television, will be held in Austin, Texas, from 7-15 March next year.

In March this year, Belfast rap trio Kneecap and Dublin bands Sprints and Soda Blonde were among 10 acts from the island of Ireland to pull out of the festival due to its sponsorship links with the US military.

In total, more than 80 artists and multiple panellists cancelled their involvement in the festival.

In a statement today, the organisers said: “After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model. As a result, the US Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025.”

After the US Army signed on as a “Super Sponsor” and “featured partner” of this year’s festival, Kneecap cancelled its three gigs there in “solidarity with the people of Palestine”.

The rap trio said the move was also an effort “to highlight the unacceptable deep link the festival has to weapons companies and the US military, who at this very moment are enabling a genocide and famine against a trapped population”.

“We cannot in good conscience attend an arts festival that has ‘The U.S Army’ as a ‘Super Sponsor’ and is platforming RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace, and BAE Systems, the very companies selling the weapons that have murdered 31,000 Palestinians,” the group added.

RTX, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation, is a military contractor and derives much of its revenue from the US military. It also supplies weapons to the Israeli military.

Collins Aerospace is owned by RTX and much of its output is in military and defence.

Dublin punk band Sprints also pulled out of the festival in March in “solidarity with the Palestinian people and as a stand against the US Army sponsorship and Defence contractor involvement”.

Soda Blonde also chose to withdraw from the festival, saying its partnership’s “starkly conflict with our band’s core principles and values”.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott later weighed in, telling the Irish acts: “Bye. Don’t come back… We are proud of the US military in Texas. If you don’t like it, don’t come here.”

At the time, the festival said it did not agree with the Republican Governor and that it is an organisation that welcomes diverse viewpoints.